Guardian Whispers
by Sho-A0YCupid
Summary: Zoro gets sent to a school with a dark secret that leads to disappearances in the night. But with the help of Luffy, the trapped survivor of the incident, he spends his school years figuring out the mystery of the school. But will he face the same fate?
1. Chapter 1

Okay! This will be seperated in two parts. This was inspired, and a few parts taken out from the TokyoPop's manga, "The Dreaming" by Queenie Chan. I'm not good at horror, but I am re-watching Fatal Frame, but then again nothing good comes out of horror. I like to be different though. I don't know, you tell me how this first part went while I take some time getting the second part up. Enjoy!

* * *

**I: The Start**

###

_Chapter I_

The lush green valley view rushed pass out of the train's window, where a young boy of eleven was looking out with a lazy stare. Across him is a man in a black suit and sunglasses that made it difficult to tell if the man was asleep or awake, and the only way to know is to talk to the man but he didn't want to say anything.

The boy had light green hair and dark emerald eyes that looked black in a distance. And although he was young he has signs of a toned body from a certain work out that most boys his age don't get until much older.

He looked at the brochure in his hand that the man shoved earlier and saw the name of a school he was being sent. 'Little Garden Private Finishing School' it said in elegant yet easy to read writing and showed the building at an angle and it was huge by the look of it. He read a bit about the school and found out that it can hold the students ages ten to twenty-four. But since it's a private school, only the very rich or very gifted students go there. He was neither of those things.

He was an abandoned orphan that no one seemed to contain for long. And his opinion was that the people finally contacted the school and there was an agreement to take him in.

He would've escaped the place like all the others if not for the fact that the school was in the middle of nowhere and him having a horrid sense of direction he would be lost for all eternity in the vast woods that he could see. He knew that he was never going to escape the place as long as he was an orphan and because he was sold out to the school there was no doubt that the other kids would try to hurt him. He was never the kind to let others push him around.

=*---*=

When the train completely stopped, the man across from him seemed to be awake and grabbed him by the wrist. "We're here." He said as he dragged the kid out of the train car and up to a man holding up a sign saying 'Little Garden'.

"Yohohoho! Is this the new lad?" Asked the tall thin man who looked young for his age.

"Yes Brook. Now grab the bags and get the car."

"Yes sir!" Said Brook as he grabbed the bags and led the way to a shiny, old fashioned black Mercedes.

About an hour in, Brook turned on some music, thinking it will light the heavy mood, but was ordered to turn it off.

They were on a dirt road surrounded by trees that seemed to engulf them from behind as the boy stared out into the window.

"No music class today?" The man asked.

"Not today…"

"I see…"

The boy didn't really care much for music when another car sped pass them.

"Someone gone missing?" The man asked.

"Aye… they're here to pick up Ace and leave. They don't trust this school with their only heir now."

The boy looked at the men and wondered about what they were talking about.

"Well, if I remember correctly, that guy always been running off doing who knows what. I'm not surprised that he got himself lost in these forsaken woods."

Zoro looked behind him to the back window to see that the forest seemed to create a wall behind them while the trees looked dark and beckoning. He started to feel uncomfortable about the situation.

"We're here!" Brook announced as he drove pass through and old iron, Victorian style gate. "Welcome to Little Garden!"

The building was larger than what the brochure showed as it resembled a Sicilian church surrounded by more trees that seemed to go on for miles.

"How big is this place?" The boy asked, talking for the first time since he got here.

"Well, since this is a very prestigious school, there are about five to ten thousand students." Brook started. "Each room can hold two students, ten lecture halls, one dining room, and underground pool, an art gallery, a fencing room, five art studios, a library that takes up three stories, a kitchen, a music room, and a concert hall."

"Damn that's big." He said as he was bonked on the head. "What was that for?" He glared at the man in the suit.

"Foul language will not be tolerated in this school." He said as he dragged the boy up the small flight of stairs and through the dark polished doors. "Take his bags to his room."

"Hai…"

=*---*=

Inside showed signs that the interior hasn't changed for the last hundred years as the man went up the stairs, went down the hall and towards one door with a small gold plate labeled 'Vice Principal'. The man knocked on the said door and waited until it opened.

"Come in!" Called a man as the other man dragged the boy in.

"I brought the child." He said as he let go of the boy.

"I can see that."

The boy straightened as he looked up at the desk and the man behind it.

"Hello. I'm Crocodile. I'm the Vice Principle here. Would you kindly tell me your name?"

The boy knew the man knew, but he said his name anyway. "Roronoa Zoro."

"Well, Roronoa-chan, I would like you to welcome you to Little Garden."

Zoro didn't say anything.

"You know… not just any child your age can be at this school."

"That's a given…"

The man smiled. "A smartass are we? Well, I do believe you want to rest up from the long day's ride here."

"You called?" Asked a man of twenty-four years of age.

"Franky, take Roronoa-chan to his room."

"Right!" Said the man as he looked at the kid. "Follow me, Lil' Bro!"

"It's Zoro." He said as he followed Franky down the halls, down the stairs to the third level where they reached to room 11.

"Here it is!" Franky said as he opened the door to reveal a very Victorian refurbished room. "Supper will be done in a bit, so just relax and I'll bring it up. Okay?"

"I'm not hungry." Zoro said as he went onto a bed and just stared out the window.

"Oh… okay. That's super… Just holler if you need anything, but lights out at nine."

"Kay…"

Once the door closed he stared out at the window before closing his eyes and drifted to sleep.

=*---*=

About a few hours later, once the lights were out, he was suddenly awaken when he felt hands grab him, gagged him, and a pillow case over his head, and then carried out while hearing muffled chuckles.

"This is so evil." Whispered one guy.

"Have to teach this guy his place." Whispered another guy as he felt cold air on his bare arms as he could hear the muffled steps of foot to grass.

"Geeze…" Said the first one. "This place gives me the creeps."

"Relax. They already took that Monkey guy. And a good thing too! Otherwise we wouldn't be able to pull this off!" Said the second as he felt himself being thrown to the ground. "I bet the new kid is crying by now!"

The pillow case was removed and saw two guys no older than seventeen.

"Huh? The new kid isn't bawling." Said one with long pale blue hair.

"He will…" Said one with short dirty blond hair. "You know where we are kid?"

Zoro glared as he tried to get his wrists out of the hold that binded him.

"This is the forest that the students disappear in."

He glared but listened.

"This forest takes anyone and no one knows why."

The one with blue hair chuckled.

"Rumor has it that this place was cursed and in order to keep the peace, sacrifices have to be made." He had a maniatic look on his face. "And tonight, you're going to be that sacrifice! What do you say to that?" He removed the cloth that was used to gag the kid.

He stared at the guy, completely calm. "You're doing me one hell of a favor." He said.

"What's that?"

"No one wanted me from the beginning, and I never asked to be here. I was sold here to be rid of once and for all from anyone. But it would've been better if I just disappeared…"

The blond didn't expect this as he kicked the kid deeper into the forest. "You little jackass! You're more annoying than that Monkey brat!"

"Bellamy! Cut it out!"

"That kid is going to cry!"

Zoro got his breathing back as he felt another kick before being stomped on.

"Why won't you cry like normal kids!?"

"Bellamy! You're going to kill him if you keep doing that!"

"Shut up! Squall! The kid wants to be dead anyway! So what if he does! Everyone would think he just disappeared like the rest of them!"

"Not tonight…" Said a new, ghostly voice that echoed through the forest.

"W-What was that?" Said Squall when a powerful force knocked Bellamy away from the boy, who looked a little out of it.

"What the hell?!" Bellamy said as he looked up to see the boy and someone else behind him. "You… B-But you're-"

"Leave this forest now!" Called out the new voice.

Zoro was able to get his mind straight and looked behind him and saw a transparent figure of a young man, no more than seventeen when the forest started to shake.

"What the hell!?" Squall said as the transparent teen leaned down and embraced the boy.

"I'll protect you." He whispered.

Zoro didn't know what the hell was going on until he heard the two scream bloody murder and he dared look to see the two surrounded by tree roots and were being dragged into the earth as a black figure appeared.

The black mass stood upright like a human, but it's proportions were more gorilla-like, and when it turned, it's red eyes resembling burning flames were staring straight at the boy as the being seemed to smile, showing ivory razor teeth with blood dripping from the tips, as if it already ate the two men.

"Go away!" The ghost figure shouted as he started to glow. "You already took those two, there's no reason to take a third! Especially under my protection!"

The black mass seemed displeased as it screamed out an inhuman sound as the body started to look as if huge worms were crawling around it before disappearing.

"Listen." The ghost said to Zoro. "When I tell you to run, you better run and don't dare look back until you're inside the school. I'll hold it off for as long as I can."

Zoro nodded, his mind numbed and wanting to just wake up from this nightmare.

"Run!" The ghost ordered as he let the boy go, which he started to run straight to the door, slammed up against it, pounded his fists on the wood before someone opened the door, went in and slammed the door shut.

"O-Oi!" Franky said as he bent down to see the frightened and beat up boy. "You okay?"

Zoro couldn't answer as he fell into unconsciousness.

###

_Chapter II_

Zoro woke up the next morning and saw that he was in his room. "A bad dream?" He said as he looked out of the window to see the forest and thought he saw someone behind the trees, but it disappeared as he blinked. He tried to get up when he felt sore and saw the bandages on his arms before jumping when a knock was heard on his door.

"Mind if I come in?" Franky asked through the door.

"Come in." He called as the man came in with a tray of food.

"It's a good thing your class doesn't start until next week." He said as he put the tray down on the bed. "Just what were you doing outside?"

"So it wasn't a dream… Those two assholes were taken by the trees while that black gorilla thing was just staring at them as the trees ate them!"

"Gorilla? Man eating trees?" Franky questioned. "What did these guys do to you?"

"I'm serious! These two jerks took me from my room, beat me out in the woods, someone came in and protected me while this gorilla thing was watching the jerks get eaten by trees and it was about to come after me."

Franky just stared at the kid before holding up a spoonful of oatmeal. "You should eat something, Lil' Bro. We're going to see a doctor."

"I'm not crazy! I really saw it!"

"I believe you."

"No you don't! I'm not stupid! You're giving me that look that saying that I need help!"

"Calm down… Yeah I think what you're saying is farfetched, but there has to be some reason why you're banged up so badly. Jeeze! I actually thought you were dead, you were just a mess of cuts and bruises."

Zoro didn't know what else to say to the man as he willingly ate his oatmeal himself.

"Can you tell me who the two jerks' names? Did you catch that at least?"

"Bellamy and Squall."

"Damn! Those two started their raid again!"

"They've done this before?"

"Yeah, but they stopped when Monkey-Bro was making sure they never did things like that to you kids."

"Bellamy mentioned about Monkey, was he a student here too?"

Franky was silent before he got up. "Finish your breakfast… I'll bring up a doctor to check your wounds…" With that he left.

Zoro glared at the door as he finished his breakfast. "I know what I saw…" He said as he pushed the tray away from him and wrapped his arms around, which triggered the memory of the ghost of the boy that saved him. "Wait… he's a ghost… but he held me as if he was solid." He looked out of the forest from his window and wondered who the guy was.

=*---*=

After the doctor finished looking over him, Franky came in with a smile on his face. "How about a tour, Lil' Bro?"

He nodded as he was dressed in a uniform casual wear, which was a plain white shirt with the school's symbol above the heart and black pants, and followed the man around the school.

While they were walking, there were whispers of the two missing male students as they passed the crowded hallways.

"Oi, Franky-san…"

"You can call me Big Bro Franky!"

"Franky-san… tell me more about this Monkey guy."

Franky shushed him as he looked around before taking them to an area that was out of earshot of the other students. "Monkey-Bro was a student here about a few years before he went missing a month ago."

"Missing?"

"Aye. The fifth one missing this year."

"Fifth?"

"And with those two it makes missing persons six and seven." He sighed. "I hoped he would be one of the few lucky ones that make it through this school."

"Wait, you mean this happened before?"

"Since its opening."

"What's wrong with this school?"

He sighed. "That's what all of us would like to know. Even Monkey-Bro was interested in figuring it out. But it looks like he knew something and the forest sensed that…"

"It must be that gorilla thing I saw. It has to be…"

"I don't know for sure, I never chanced to see the forest at night. But I do agree with you that there's definitely something not human about what's going on."

"Then why have a school here?"

"Simple, it's the best school that's far away from any distractions and creates connections for future careers."

"That's so stupid to keep this school up!"

"Better keep your voice down."

"Why?!"

"Because, unlike most students here, you don't have a family to take you away from here, you don't have money to give you a certain status to those who do, and you're at this point alone without some people to help back you up."

"I don't need to be protected."

"You're a tough kid, but you're only one of a thousand who would love to see you break. To them you're not tough, but a penniless orphan."

"I don't care what they see me as… I know what I saw and that Monkey-san had saved me."

"Saved you? That's impossible. No one was able to be found."

"I saw him… and he's guarding the forest from whatever's in there out."

Franky sighed as he rubbed his forehead. "I'll pretend we didn't have this talk..."

"Why not?"

The man looked at the boy seriously. "You want to end up being number eight?"

Zoro bit his lip as he continued to follow the man throughout the rest of the tour.

=*---*=

It took the whole day and the boy ended up with keeping a map and wrote down small notes for him to remember where what was and know what to avoid. He learned about his class schedule and marked his classes on his map. He met some of his teachers and immediately decided who he can talk to for advice and who to avoid at all cost. By the time he got back to his room after dinner, his map was nothing but notes. Everything was marked except for the Vice Principle's room, which he crossed out with a red crayon, given to him by the man.

He looked out of his window and saw nothing but black as far as he could see. He took a photo out of his pocket and looked at the goofy looking teen that was deemed to be Monkey D. Luffy. 'He was a student here for five years before he went missing a month ago…' He thought as he looked out of the window again, but this time he thought he saw someone standing there, glowing faintly within the dark surroundings. 'Franky said that he was acting strange two months before he disappeared…' He focused on that faint light as he could make out human figure.

A chill went up his spine when he felt the figure's eyes looking at him, but he wasn't afraid when the figure moved deeply into the blackness. "Just what did you find out?" He whispered as he heard the lights out call and have to retreat for the evening.

###

_Chapter III_

The next morning he was about to head outside when Franky stopped him.

"Sorry, Lil' Bro, but we have to get you books and supplies."

"How long will that take?"

"Not long, but you also need to work on some assignments that you have to do to be at the same level as the others. Don't want them to think just because you're new doesn't mean you get special treatment."

"Like I asked?"

"We also need to work on your language."

"I didn't say anything offensive!"

"It's the tone you let out."

Zoro groaned.

"You'll have time to go out, and I'm here as your tutor until school starts for you."

"Lucky me…"

=*---*=

The whole day for Zoro was a bore to him. Franky tried to make it amusing, but soon realized that the kid wasn't the fun type which was a downer to him as well. He did the assignments, the other looks over and corrects the mistakes, and he did the corrections until he could complete the whole assignment.

Soon it was lights out and he reluctantly went to bed, but not before looking out at the window to see the faint light within the darkness of the trees.

=*---*=

This went on for the rest of the week and on his final non-class day, he completed his last assignment.

"Super!" Franky called out as he did a pose. "You're super ready for your classes!"

"Great, more work." Zoro said as he laid back in a lofty chair in the drawing room.

"Ah! Don't be like that, Lil' Zoro-Bro, I had to do it too."

"Am I going to be crazy then?"

The man laughed. "Nah! You'll be fine!"

He looked to see that it was only three in the afternoon, but the tapping on the window was a reminder that it was raining outside. "I finally got my assignments done and I can't even go out."

"You'll get out tomorrow when you've got break."

'Yeah, only to be watched like criminals…' He thought as he got up from the chair. "I'm going to my room."

"You need me to take you there?"

"No, I think I know my way around."

"Okay, Lil' Bro, I'll come get you for dinner."

He nodded as he walked out of the drawing room and into the halls where other students were walking, chatting, standing, and he saw some kissing, but he walked through the maze until he found a library. 'Did I miss a turn somewhere?' He thought as he entered the area anyway and saw some older students looking through books and writing papers.

"Can I help you?" Asked a male librarian with a hair style that looked like clovers.

He saw the name tag 'Clover', and looked back up at the man. "Just looking for a quiet place to sit down."

"Well you've come to the right place." Clover said. "Take a seat wherever."

He nodded as he decided the back corner of the library was a good place to nap, at least he won't be disturbed.

=*---*=

When he got there he noticed that the area was covered in dust and it reeked in old books. He looked at the spines, which were thick with dust until he came across one book that looked as though it was recently used. He was never the kind who could be curious about something like that, but then the book was just out of place in such a state. He got a closer look at the spine to make out the faded and chipped gold lettering, but he couldn't make it out. He pulled it out and saw that the cover was in the same condition.

"Weird…" He said as he opened to see the cover page was covered in something that looked like dried ink, but he could make out a small note at the corner of the page: M.D.L. "M.D.L?" He turned the page and saw a blank page that was covered in notes with the similar handwriting as the initials.

'Franky said that Luffy-san was working on the disappearances.' He thought as he turned to see another blank page filled with notes. "Why is this book here?" He asked himself as he figured that he would borrow the mysterious book.

He went up to the desk and saw that Clover wasn't there. He looked around the desk and saw a stamp. He picked it up, opened the book to find the sticker with the recent dates, stamped the available spot, took a pen and note pad, wrote down some information, and walked out of the library and searched his room.

=*---*=

By the time he found it, Franky was right outside. "Oh! There you are, Lil' Bro!"

"I don't get this place…" He said as he reached for the knob.

"Dinner's ready."

"I just have to put this book away."

"Book?"

"Went to the library and found one." He entered his room, placed the book under his pillow and quickly walked out to follow the man to the dining room.

"What book did you get?"

"The historical samurai figures." He lied.

"Into that sort of thing, huh?" He said with a smile.

"I like swords…"

The man laughed, as if agreeing with the boy.

"Say, Franky-san?"

"What's up, Lil' Bro?"

"What kind of guy is Luffy?"

"Where to start!" He said as he laughed. "He was a crazy one! All smiles and laughs. Made the place easier to live in, even on his first day. The kids loved him and made his cousin adapt to this school easily."

"His cousin?"

"Oh, yeah. Ace! He's only a year older than you, but didn't get along with others too well unless he sees Luffy around. He got over that after a few days." He sighed. "Luffy-Bro was an all around good guy. When the news announced of his disappearance…" He sighed again. "I still think he would come out and make everything better." He chuckled a bit bitterly. "Well… If he were here, he would not leave you alone for a second until you smiled and laughed."

Zoro looked out of one of the windows and saw that it stopped raining.

=*---*=

After dinner, he went back to his assigned room, with Franky's help, and grabbed the book from under his pillow. He opened it, flipped a few pages and started to read the first page, which was the introduction but there were notes and underlined words all over the page. "Just what were you doing?" He asked himself as he looked out of his window to see the faint figure there once again.

"Lights out! Bros and Sises!" Franky announced and he turned off his light and looked out, only for the figure to not be there.

He glared at the darkness and started to get his uniformed jacket and his school shoes, before listening for anyone outside his door before walking out. 'I just have to go down and find a door that leads outside.' He thought as he quietly walked down the halls to find the stairs.

=*---*=

Once he was finally at the first level without being caught, he found the entrance doors, put his shoes on and grabbed the handle and opened it slightly for him to pass through. As he closed the door, he looked to see that everything was pitch black. He looked to see the moon was just a sliver crescent and hardly outlined the trees there.

He shivered a bit but he took a step out into the darkness and headed to the forest. He could sense something was watching him as he walked up to the black void before stopping short of the trees. He stood there for five minutes as he started to feel a chill up his spine, but not from the cold.

"Monkey D. Luffy!" He shouted, breaking the silence that surrounded the area. "If you can hear me, show yourself!" He was shaking as he held a tight grasp on the bottom on his jacket as he waited for something.

It almost seemed like an eternity before he saw a faint light moving towards him through the darkness. He stopped his shaking as he watched the light become brighter and in a human form. He could make out the faded black blue hair, the faint skin color, and the faded grey color of the school uniform, even the figure was close enough for him to see the faded brown eyes as the figure stopped.

"Hey." The figure known as Luffy said with an easy smile.

Zoro took a moment before getting himself together. "H-Hi… My name is Roronoa Zoro, age eleven."

Luffy smiled a bit more. "Monkey D. Luffy, age seventeen." He said as he bent down to be at the other's eye level. "Why are you out here so late? You want to disappear that badly?"

"It's not that! I wanted to see you!"

"See me?" He pointed at himself. "Why?"

"I heard from Franky-san that you're the closest one to find out about what's going on in this messed up school."

He blankly stared at the boy before looking back to see the forest as a sudden wind came out.

But to Zoro, the forest was moaning.

"Get back inside." He said as he stood up.

"Huh?"

"Trust me, Zoro, you don't want to be here." He faced the forest. "If you don't want to have bad dreams, light a candle."

"What?"

"Go now!" He shouted as a blood curling scream was heard within the dark.

It only took the boy to see the burning eyes for him to run back to the school.

Once he got to the door, he risked looking back and saw the faint light get brighter as the creature seemed to growl and hiss before he went inside the building. He took a deep breath as he walked back to his room through the dark.

=*---*=

Once he got into his room, he quickly went to the window and saw the other, leaning up against a tree, the light much fainter than the other nights. 'He fought off that thing…' He thought as he looked to see the other walk back into the forest. "Thank you…" He whispered as he went to bed, the book hidden securely under his pillow.

###

_Chapter IV_

_Zoro found himself standing in the opening surrounded by trees. "Huh? Where am I?" He asked as he looked at the trees and saw something unusual. He went up to one of the trees and placed a hand on the dark red trail going down the bark. He then became horrified when he caught the scent of blood and saw the red substance as the same thing. He drew back as he felt something grab his foot. He looked down to see a hand out of the ground and heard a whimper. He followed the sound to see the scared and desperate face of Bellamy that was missing just a week ago._

_"Help…" He said as he started to sink more under the tree._

_He looked down at the captured foot only to quickly draw it back as he watched the hand turn into a root. He heard another strangled cry and saw the second meet the same fate. "W-What the-!?" He said as he heard some foot steps behind him. He looked back to see a few, shadowed figures coming towards him. He didn't know why but he felt scared and started to run deeper into the forest. 'Where's the damn school!?' He thought as he thought about Luffy._

_"Luffy! Luffy!" He called out as he ran away from whatever was behind him. He ran into someone, knocked back to the ground, and looked up to see the burning eyes. He felt paralyzed and unable to speak as the thing moved closer to him._

_"Zoro! Wake up!"_

_He heard Luffy say, but couldn't see the teen._

_"Wake up! Just wake up!"_

_He closed his eyes as the thing's hand got close and quickly opened his eyes._

==!==

He sat upright on the bed and panted as if he ran a marathon and had to hold his nose when he smelled blood. 'The hell was that about?' He thought as he felt sick and dizzy. He looked out of his window to see the first rays of light were peeking out behind the trees. He laid back on the bed and sighed. "What a messed up nightmare." He said as he felt around the pillow for the book, opened it, and looked at the page with notes and saw one mentioning candles.

'These things repel when light is around. Light a candle to get nightmare free sleep.'

"That's why he told me to light a candle…" He said with a sigh. "Looks like I have to ask Franky-san about candles." He said as he stared up at the ceiling when he heard someone running down the hall outside his door. He didn't know what that was about as he put the book away and get a few minutes of sleep.

When Franky woke him up fifteen minutes later, got dressed, and finished his breakfast, he went to his classroom to meet his classmates for the first time. Needless to say he got everyone's attention by being new and having green hair.

=*---*=

When class started he heard whispers about him but also about missing person number eight.

"Is it a student?"

He heard one girl ask.

"No. It was the librarian, Clover-san."

"No way!"

"Yeah. I didn't believe either until I heard the teachers say the same thing."

"I hope I don't get snatched away."

"I just hope that one girl does. It's not fair that he gets snatched and not her. She's so mean!"

He tuned them out as the class seemed to drag on.

=*---*=

It was finally break and the class was let out to the bright sunlight. While the kids seem to enjoy running around, he looked around his surroundings and saw that there were three people watching them: his teacher, the gardener, and someone behind the window. He then looked towards the forest and remembered that night and the nightmare. He also remembered the librarian and wondered if the nightmare had something to do with the man's 'disappearance'.

And then there was Luffy. Just who is he? What is he? A ghost? That's a likely possibility, giving the fact that the teen's physical complexions are faint. A spirit? A type of ghost that can have a physical form at will and be able to interact. There are just so many things he wanted to understand about the teen who protected him twice… possibly three times if he counted the dream.

He looked at the surrounding forest again and saw a faint figure of Luffy in the shadows, who waved at him. He nodded to let the other know he saw him before break was done and had to get back in class.

=*---*=

When class was over he and the other kids followed Franky as they headed back to their rooms to work on their assignments and decided to go outside, since it was still light out and he didn't want to sneak out in the middle of the night again. He still had to make sure he wasn't spotted as he went down to the first level and tried to find the back door.

Once down he had to go through a maze of older students who were let out and even older students going from class to class. But he found the door he was looking for, checked to see if anyone was watching and went out.

=*---*=

He made sure no one was outside as he headed down the garden path, just in case, and went off the path.

"What are you doing?"

He jumped and turned to see Luffy sitting on an upturned root. "Looking for you…" He responded.

"Just call out my name next time." He said with a smile. "Unlike those things I'm not limited to coming out during the day."

"And the path?"

He laughed. "It's just a stupid hiking trail! There's nothing special about it!"

"Oh…" He blushed with embarrassment.

"So! What do you want to talk to me about?" He asked as he relaxed back against the tree and patted a spot next to him.

He walked up and sat next to the faint teen and took a moment to think about what he should say first. "Well… I heard from the other kids that the librarian is missing…"

"Yeah, he's here… somewhere…" He said as he looked into the forest. "I don't know where they took him though."

"Why would they take him though? I don't know the guy, but…"

"That's what I would like to know too. But if I didn't interfere, it would've been you."

"Me?"

"I told you to light a candle, but I guess you had no idea what the hell I was talking about."

"Yeah, I found that out from one of your notes."

"My notes?"

"Yeah, yesterday before dinner, I found the book you used in the library."

"You went to the back of the library?"

"Yeah… I did. I wanted to take a nap but then that book was out of place so…"

Luffy smiled. "That's good to know. I thought for sure Ace would find it and take it with him. Then everything would start from scratch."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah… He was the only one who knew what I was up to and never stopped me. I was afraid that the book would fall into the wrong hands and so I hid it and I didn't want to tell Ace because he had enough problems already. He was adjusting to the school well, but… he could barely handle what was going on here. He would look at me and I would have to tell him that things were going to be okay as long as we're careful…" He sighed. "But then I thought I saw a student walk into the forest one night, left Ace with a note and followed… Next thing I knew I was here." He lifted his hand. "At least I'm not completely see through. That's a bad sign."

"So you're dead?"

"That's the strange thing."

"Huh?"

He smiled as he looked at the boy. "Don't you remember?"

Zoro blinked before the other embraced him, just like when the other saved him.

"Some ghosts can do physical things like pushing or tapping, but most of the time the ghost is characterized as cold as ice to the touch."

"But you're warm…" He was getting it. "So you can't really be dead then."

"I don't think I'm alive either."

"Huh?" Luffy backed away from the boy, but still has an arm around the boy's shoulder. "I'm not dead, but not alive." He said with a smile. "I'm somewhere in between."

"Is that even possible?"

"I'm proof of that."

"And you're real body?"

He sighed. "They hid it somewhere."

"You mean that gorilla thing?"

Luffy laughed making him look brighter. "Yeah. That thing."

"What is it?"

He sighed. "Well… I was trying to find that out before…"

"So you have no idea."

"Not one."

"Do you know why it's doing this?"

"You read the book, right?"

"Only a couple pages."

"Might want to start reading before firing off so many questions." He said as he looked back to the forest. "They're starting to wake up now."

"How do you know?"

"Another time, right now you have to get back to the school before the sun sets completely."

He really wants to know more, but he didn't want to face those monsters again either. "I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay."

He looked a bit surprised before smiling. "I'd love that."

=*---*=

With a nod he ran back down the man made path and found the school, go through the door and walked around the building to find Franky or anyone of his 'go to' teachers.

"Hello there."

He looked back to see his music teacher, Brook. "Hi Bonez-sensei."

"What are you doing out here?"

"Went for a walk, then I got lost."

"Yohohoho! I know how that is. I've been here for five years and I still have a time finding the toilet."

He couldn't help but smile.

"So! What can I do for you?" He asked.

"Well…" He said as he scratched his head. "Do you know where I could find some candles?"

"Candles?"

"Yeah, I heard it keeps the nightmare demons away."

"Did you have a hard time sleeping then?"

"Yeah. Made me feel sick too."

"R-Really?"

"Yeah…"

"Well… I do know where to find some, but they're in the vice principal's office."

He groaned.

"Tell you what! I know another place to get them, but they're used."

"That's okay." He said.

"I'll bring them by your room before lights out."

"Okay!" He said as both headed to the dining room, where a few students were there, chatting away.

=*---*=

After dinner Zoro went up to his room and started to read the book as he looked at each note the teen made.

'If I'm going to survive in this school, I have to know how to get those beings away from me.' He thought as he remembered the librarian. 'And I have to find a way so others won't be taken away as well.' He heard a knock on the door and announced to come in.

"Hello, Zoro-chan!" Brook said as he held a box. "Got the candles." He placed the box on the bed.

He looked to see five white candles that did look like they were used some time ago. "Thanks Bonez-sensei." He said as he picked one candle up.

"Zoro-chan… What was the nightmare you mentioned?"

He looked at the man and saw the worried look. "Did Luffy-san mentioned it too?"

"How did you know?"

"Franky-san said that Luffy was looking into the disappearances before he was too."

Brook sighed as he sat down. "Aye. Luffy-san did tell me about a horrifying nightmare that he would wake up feeling sick. But then he had to study one night and would do it by candle light to not bother Ace and fell asleep." He took a deep breath before continuing. "That's where he might've gotten the idea from because he looked well rested after that."

He looked at the box of candles. "Were these his then?"

The man nodded. "Yes, those were his. Ace would light the other candles for the fun of it, but Luffy never stopped him, he just laughed it off."

"Lights out now!" Franky said through the open door.

"Okay Franky-san." He said as he placed one candle with a stand on the night stand, grabbed a match from the match box, and lit the small wick in the center of the candle. He blew out the match and settled to bed. "Night." He said.

"Night, Lil' Bro."

"Good night, Zoro-chan." Brook said as he closed the door.

"What's with the candle?"

Zoro could hear Franky through the closed door.

"Shh! He said he had a dream similar to Luffy-san's."

"Seriously? He hasn't been at this school for a month and he got that dream?"

He tuned them out as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

###

_Chapter V_

He woke up with Franky shaking him awake. 'No nightmares.' He thought as he looked at the candle and saw a small flame before going out. 'Wow, that thing didn't burn itself out.'

"Okay, Lil' Bro, time to get dressed." The man said as the boy quickly changed from p.j.'s to school outfit. "Super! Let's go!"

He grabbed his bag and the book, and followed the man to his class.

=*---*=

When break rolled around, he found a place to read the book while also keeping an eye out for Luffy, who was hiding in the shadows. With that he continued to read while thinking up questions to ask the teen later.

"Oi!"

He looked up from the book to see another boy his age with shiny blond hair, thing as a twig, and has an odd curly eyebrow.

"You the new kid everyone's talking about?"

"Depends on what they said." He wasn't a stupid kid, he knew what the other kids think.

"They said you look scary and that your hair looks like grass."

"What's your point?"

"Just wanted to know what kind of guy you are."

"And…?" He could feel the small bubble of annoyance rising.

The boy shrugged. "You look like any kid here, except that hair of yours. It reminds me of a marimo."

"You're eyebrow resembles a dartboard."

"Oi! Don't talk about my eyebrow!"

"Then don't talk about my hair!"

They glared each other for a moment before break was over, making the boy walked away.

"Marimo."

"Dartbrow."

And that was the start of their dislike of one another.

After class let out and sent to their rooms to do their assignments, Zoro worked on his assignment as well as have a sheet of paper to write down any questions that he would like to ask Luffy. When he was done with his assignments, he folded the piece of paper, shoved it in his pocket, grabbed his jacket, and headed down the bodily maze to the back door.

=*---*=

He went down to the end of the path and called out to Luffy, who only took a few minutes to find him.

"Hey Zoro, how are you?"

"I'm okay." He responded as he sat down on a small boulder. "What about you?"

"Not much to say about me." He said with a laugh. "But it was a good day." He leaned up against the tree. "What brings you here today?"

"A game."

"Game!?" He looked excited. "What kind of game?"

"A question game."

"Like 'Trivia' and '20 Questions'?"

"Kinda but it's a way for us to know each other."

"Sounds fun!" He said as he sat down on the ground. "What are the rules?"

"Each of us has to ask the other one a question and that person has to respond. If you're unable to answer in ten seconds, I have to ask you another one."

"How long can this game last?"

"Until you tell me I have to go. So, whoever is the last person to ask a question, then the game picks up tomorrow with the other."

"Okay, sounds easy enough." He said as he resembled an excited child than a teen.

"Since the game was my idea, I'll start first."

"Fair enough!"

"Okay… We'll start with the simple questions." He said. "How old are you?"

"I already told you, seventeen. Okay… what's for favorite color?"

"I don't have one."

"Really? You can't even think of one color?"

"That's two questions."

Luffy pouted. "Not my fault."

Zoro laughed a bit as they continued the game with asking about their favorites and hobbies before the teen suddenly stopped and looked at the forest. "See you tomorrow then." He said as he got off of the boulder.

"Okay. See you tomorrow. I enjoyed our game a lot."

He smiled. "Me too." He said as he ran down the path back to the school.

=*---*=

When he got to his room, he saw a strange book and pen on his bed as well as a note.

'Yo, Lil' Bro! Brook and I thought that you would like a journal to keep. If you need another journal, feel free to ask us! Franky'

He looked at the plain black cover and opened it to see clean blank pages. He looked at the time and saw that he needed to get down at the dining room soon or he will miss dinner. He placed the book and pen under his pillow and ran out.

=*---*=

When he came back, he put on his p.j.'s and climbed into bed. He lit a candle and took out his journal and pen to write.

_'I've been in this school for a little over a week now, but at first I thought I was going to hate it because I'm going to be trapped here. I would've ran away like I did with the orphanages and foster homes, but there's nothing but trees for miles and miles. Though, I don't think anyone would care if I'm missing... my own parents tried to kill be before before just abandoning and disappeared on the face of the world. But then I met Luffy, who had a better life before he became, not a ghost... I don't know what to call it, but he's not really a ghost, but he's not here in the physical world either. But thanks to him, I have a reason to stay here. He's alone now, and I was alone to begin with. No one knows he's there no matter what I say, and he's the only person I can truly call my friend, for he'll be my secret until this mystery of this school is solved.'_

When he was done, he heard lights out and placed the items back under his pillow as he closed his eyes. He waited for the sound of footsteps to go away before opening his eyes to look out at the window, where he could see Luffy walking along the border of the trees. He smiled as he made himself feel comfortable. "See you tomorrow, Luffy." He whispered before drifted off to sleep.

###

_Chatper VI_

"Oi! Zoro-Bro!"

He groaned as he got up, looking taller and showing signs of change from child to teen. It was two years since he came to the school and he was at the ripe age of thirteen, a time of change. "I'm up!" He called as he got into his hand-me-down uniform.

Once he was done dressing himself he went out to see Franky, at twenty six and a full time staff member of the school after one year of leaving the school work, which didn't turn out so well, and is now his teacher in repairing and mechanics.

"Ready for class?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Hey now, it can't be all bad."

"There's only one thing that makes this place worthwhile."

"What's that?"

He gave the man the 'like I would tell you' look and headed towards his first class of the day.

"Oi! Marimo!"

He looked up to see his worst friend in the entire school. "What is it, Dartbrow?"

"You got the notes from yesterday's class?"

"Why the hell should I give you my note? Just quit staring at girls and do your own shit!"

"What the hell!? What's wrong with me honing in my sense of finding girls attractive?"

"Simple, do it outside of class, you moron!"

"Don't tell me there's not a girl you don't like."

Zoro sighed. "You're hopeless!" He said as he sat down in his chair.

"So, the notes…?"

He glared at the blond. "You know you're living up to the 'dumb blond' thing."

"And you fall into the asshole section."

"Rather be that than a blond."

"Why you!"

"Blackleg-san! Please sit down!"

"Hai! Alvida-sensei!" The blonde said as he has a heart for an eye as a beautiful female teacher came in and started the class on biology.

"Today we're going to study some health. Since most of you are reaching to that age." She said as she most of the young teenaged men were hanging on her every word. All but Zoro who looked like he was ready to fall asleep. "Let's start with the changes of the human body." He went on to explain about sex.

Zoro already learned this ahead of time and started to write in his journal, at least he looked like he was taking notes.

_'I'm in biology right now, but I already learned about today's topic sometime ago. It's about sex and the whole health thing about it. I know heterosexual sex, gay sex and lesbeian sex. So this is pointless and the fact that the teacher is a attention whore doesn't help much either. Geeze. And that stupid Dartbrow just fantisizes her all the time to the point that I'm begging Franky to lend me his crappy head phones, crank up the music, and hopefully not be able to hear anymore. I don't like the guy by any means, but someone has to drag him off of cloud nine.'_

When the class finally let out he went to his other class, which was history, which bored him to being comatose, then it was English which he was doing great in, algebra, mechanics, music, then it was a short lunch break, and then it was his favorite class, kendo.

The class hasn't been available until a year ago, and he couldn't get enough of the class. His sensei, Mihawk, was impressed at his ability while the other students would rather run round the school than get beat up by a wooden sword. In the end it was just him and two older students that took the class.

=*---*=

By the end of the class day, he would sneak into the weight room, took a few weights, and ran out to see Luffy, who would count his recs before talking about the day's events.

"I don't know why I even bother with that prick!" Zoro said. "All he ever does is flirt with girls. Even when we met, he acted like he didn't give a damn, but put a girl in the picture and he acts like a moron and blames me for being rude to her when I didn't even do a damn thing besides breathing. It's not like I choose to be there! He was the one who dragged me to a place, only for a girl to show up and acts like a damn hero! I can talk to you better than him!"

Luffy laughed. "What can I say? I was never into girls either. Too weird."

"Yeah, but the worst case would be my biology teacher, Alvida-sensei. Practically every guy in the building wants to do her, while the girls either want to be her or kill her."

"So what? You want me to have the creeps take her?"

"Nah, that would make things difficult. Not mention that you've kept a close table at making sure no one disappears in the night these last couple years."

"Yeah, amazing isn't it?"

He sighed. "But I still haven't figured out about this thing. You figured the 'how' these disappearances happen, but I still can't find the 'why' this is so."

Luffy ruffled the growing teen's head. "You're doing great though."

Zoro, used to having his head petted, just looked at the other in a curious manner, a rare sight to anyone. "Don't you ever feel lonely?"

He blinked before chuckling. "That's a strange question coming from you." He said as he hugged the other with one arm. "I'm not that lonely. I have you… that's all I need."

"Until I have to go back to the building for the night."

"And I treasure every second of it."

"I don't get you."

Luffy laughed as he brought the other closer. "Oh well!"

The other couldn't help but smile at this as well and spent the rest of their time like that before he had to leave to return to his boring, prison-like world.

=*---*=

Once back into his room he took out the old weights that he hid under his bed. He would work out before lights out and then he well start writing in his journal, which he had a growing collection of.

_'Well, after class I did my damn assignments as usual, and went to see Luffy. He likes to talk, but he's a good listener as well when he knows that I have something to let out. I don't know how he does it, but I think he knows me more than I give him credit for. And thanks to the candle thing, less students are getting nightmares, which is a sign they could disappear either on that night or sometime soon, and so far we have no disappearences for a year and a half. Well, I better get to searching these books on mythology.'_

When he was done with the entry he put a line under the entry and opened the book on myths he could find and wrote down his summary as he read the book of myths. When he was done he lit the candle and turned off the light, but he went up to the window to see the teen at his usual spot, staring at his window and saw him wave. "Good night, Luffy." He said as he turned in and slept.

###

* * *

Yes, as you can see the first part mostly deals with Zoro as a child to his early teen years. The second part is when he's in his adulthood (19) and things get worse for him, his sort-of class friends, and Luffy. But that's all in the next part.


	2. Chapter 2

I know I said I was doing this in two parts, but there's going to be a final chapter after this, which would make it three parts but with only one chapter. So... Reviewer's Reply! I don't have a host for this fic because it's almost to the end anyway. Here we go! To Kirai-san, you don't have to wait any longer. Mantineus, a new reviewer I do believe, I have to say I'm surprised that I freaked you out a bit, but that's a good thing. To WW-san, last part and this part are going to have a pack of chapters, a new thing for me, but I'm sorry if the discriptive thing isn't that great. Lazy Rain Dancer, a new reviewer, I love these two as well and that I'm glad to know you enjoyed the first part. Hmob-san, I'm glad to know that it was up to the 'eek' factor for you, I didn't know I was able to do that, but I'm glad to know that it did and hopefully continue in this part. And to Dreamer-san I would like to thank you for liking this and all of my fics and hope you enjoy this part as well. That's all I have to say and enjoy the second part!

* * *

**Part II: Survival**

###

_Chapter VII_

"Oi! Marimo!" Sanji, age nineteen, called as he hit the other, also nineteen, with a book. "You stayed up late again!?"

"What the hell?" Zoro groaned. "It's Sunday damnit."

"We got that study group to go to!"

"Then go. I need more sleep."

"Geeze! We promised Nami-chan that we'll be there!"

"You promised… Don't get me involved."

"Why I'm friends with you is a mystery!"

"Being in the same school for eight years, and roommates for about five years. I don't know…"

"Fine! I get it! You want to rot in bed a little longer?"

"An hour would be nice, if you leave now."

"Lazy ass!" He said as he exited out of the room only to meet up with two girls. 'I see... he doesn't want to go so I could have the ladies to myself!' He thought with a happy smile. 'He really is a good friend after all.' He smiled more as he called out. "Nami-swan! Vivi-chan!"

=*---*=

Back in the room Zoro shivered. 'Again… why do I have to be stuck with him? Of all people?' He thought before he was sure that the small group was gone and got out of bed. "I've already know the stuff so there's no reason for me to go." He said to himself as he dressed. "Besides, I studied with them last Sunday, and I got plans this time." He grabbed his coat and walked out of the room.

=*---*=

He went to the gym, barrowed some weights and exited out to the school grounds.

"Oh! Zoro!"

He looked to see an odd looking teen of seventeen at a painter's canvas as he walked outside. "Oh, Usopp." He said as he walked towards the teen. "You painting again?"

"Not much else for me to do." Usopp said as he set his brush down and looked ahead of him.

"How are those dreams of yours?"

"Gone now, thanks. Those candles really work!"

He grinned and nodded. "So, what are you painting now?"

"I'm actually coping one as a project."

"What are you coping then?"

He grabbed the book and handed it to the other. "I found this in the library a few days ago. Apparently this and the other books were in storage for a long time."

"Storage?"

"I thought you might've known. Must've been banned longer than I thought then. Anyway, the staff member found a key by accident and found them and decided to bring them back up."

He looked at the art book and saw paintings that were similar to the school. "Oi, Usopp. Who did these paintings?"

"It's an unknown. Why?"

"The paintings look like the school."

"That's what I thought too when I found this." He pointed one picture that was shown. "By the look of it though, I would have to say that the artist was somewhere in the late 1800's to early 1900's." He laughed. "That makes the school really old, huh?"

"I don't need a book to tell me that." He said as he saw that each painting was telling a story. But one in particular caught his attention. The painting was that of a lone male figure, standing in the middle of a clearing, and the trees were covered in blood. 'Just like my nightmare years ago!' He thought as he was about to turn the page, but saw something odd in the painting he was looking at. "Oi, Usopp… What do you make of this?" He pointed to the picture, with the faceless figure between some trees, as the teen looked at it.

"Oh that… I wondered about that too. I figured that the paintings were some kind of series, and though the last painting would reveal who or what it is. But when I looked for it…" He turned to the back of the page and saw a tear of where the page was ripped out.

"I see…" He said as he handed the book back. "Mind if I barrow this when you're done?"

"Sure, no problem." He said.

"Have fun." He said as he headed to the forest.

"Thanks!" The teen replied as he returned to the canvas of the gathering of some students in the dining room.

=*---*=

Zoro entered the path and saw the faintly lit teen on the boulder.

"Hey Zoro! About time!"

"Sorry, ended up talking to Usopp."

"I heard." He said with a concerned and serious tone.

"You knew about the paintings?"

He shook his head. "I didn't even know about it until a moment ago."

"Those books could be the final pieces we've been looking for. The 'why' of this."

"Maybe that's why they were in storage for a long time." He reasoned. "But why were they in storage? It could've explained so much of how to stop it."

"Well, with you keeping those things at bay, there hasn't been a missing person since Clover."

He smiled. "I can't take all the credit. You convinced that Crocodile bastard to have at least one candle lit in the rooms where the students report strange dreams."

"Yeah…" He said as he sat down next to the other. "But there are times I wonder if those dreams could mean something."

"I know what you mean, but I've seen enough of it."

"Only the part where you find yourself in the clearing before being chased."

"Like I said, I had enough of it to know."

He sighed as he looked up at the trees. "If we ever get rid of this thing, will you be free?"

There was a pause before the other spoke. "Hard to say." He said as he brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. "It's been eight years, but I still feel like I'm in-between life and death." He sighed. "My body is hidden somewhere here. It's probably bones by now, but if I find it I won't feel like I'm tied to this place."

Zoro knew the chances for the teen to be 'alive' would be impossible at this point, but he agreed that the teen's body would not be buried at a place such as this. "Where would you like to be buried then?" He asked.

Luffy smiled. "The sea… I want my body to be dumped at the sea. Far, far away from any land for miles."

He can easily picture the long awaited funeral and see the body sink into the dark blue depths.

"Will you be okay, Zoro?" He asked.

He sighed. "Well, I knew one of these days we will have to part. Move on… But I do have people I know and can count on if I needed it. But what about you? As far as I know, you're the only missing person who still contacts the living."

"Weird, huh?" He said with a smile.

"Don't know… there has to be a reason." He said as he looked around the forest. "Otherwise you'll just be like any other missing person."

"And you wouldn't be at the school either." He said. "I saved you from that thing three times since you came here."

"I remember." He said with a laugh. "I can't believe I thought about disappearing when I was that age, but then I had a crappy childhood before I met you."

Luffy smiled as he placed a hand on the other's shoulder, just as though he was solid.

Throughout the rest of the day they talked before Zoro had to go.

"One of these days I would like to talk to you at night."

"Then you're crazy!" Luffy said with a laugh.

=*---*=

He returned the weights and headed to the dining room, where he saw Sanji, Nami, Vivi, Usopp, Franky, Brook, and a woman of twenty eight known as Nico-sensei.

"Oi! There you are!" Sanji called. "Were you in the forest all day?"

"Yeah, that a crime?"

"How can you stand being in that creepy forest all day?" Nami asked.

"Simple, go during the day. I've told you that a thousand times." He said as he sat down.

"But what do you exactly do in there?"

"Train and meditate. It's the only place in this damned school that I can have sometime to myself."

"And studying?"

"Every damn day with you chattering and arguing in my ear."

"He does get good scores on his tests." Vivi mentioned.

"Still doesn't help when you're an anti-social lughead."

Zoro rolled his eyes as he looked up at Usopp. "How's your copy going along?"

"Oh, it's going good." He responded as a little, fifteen year old boy came up.

"Hi everyone!"

"Hey Chopper." The group said.

"How's our doctor-to-be today?" Nami asked.

"Aww! Don't be so kind, you bitch!" He said as he pulled his hat down and danced in place.

Zoro looked at the group as he wondered about Luffy. Here he was sitting down with people who he sees every waking moment of his time here, but the other's only company was him. He knew the other said that it was okay, but was it really? On most days he wouldn't mind this sort of thing, but he does worry about the teen, the unofficial guardian of the forest.

"Zoro-san."

He looked to see Nico-sensei. "Hai…"

"Would you mind going over some paintings recently found?"

"You mean the one with the anonymous painter who may have been a student here?"

She smiled. "You're once again a step ahead of me."

"Usopp helped." He said as he pointed to the teen.

"Oi!"

"So… Interested?"

He shrugged. "A look never killed anyone." He said as the dining room was being filled.

=*---*=

Once dinner was done, Zoro and Nico-sensei, also known to be Robin, headed towards the galleries. When they opened the polished Victorian doors, they saw nothing but darkness.

"Looks like a void." He said as she found the switch.

"It's a good thing we have electricity." She said as they walked into the room.

"Shit, these paintings are huge." He said as he saw the paintings, as big as modern day wide screens, covered most of the walls. "What did you find out in Crocodile's office?"

"Not much." She said as she looked at the painting of a small group of young adults, no doubt the early students, standing.

"Find any oddities in that painting?" He asked.

"Oddities?"

He went to the painting to find it himself. "There." He pointed to the one human figure in the background, whether it was male or female was unclear, but it was painted with the Victorian dress robes and had no face.

"A faceless student?" She said, unsure what to make of it.

"Usopp said that this figure's face appears in the last of the paintings."

"Was it not in there?"

"No… torn out completely."

"Just like life… One never truly knows their end until the end."

"Quit the morbid speeches." He said as he looked at every painting, but not the last one. "Even the other painting is missing, the 'reason' one." He recalled seeing it mentioned but there wasn't a picture of it in the book.

"I do recall Crocodile having an extra door in his office. I thought it might be a coat closet."

"Better check to make sure the next time you're there."

"Right." She said as both walked out of the gallery. "Looks like there's something in this school that doesn't want us to know."

"I better start making my rounds." He said.

"Sorry I couldn't get a copy of that key to his office."

"Don't worry. I think he spends most of his nights there since I became the night guard."

She smiled. "This is getting exciting now."

"You and your history addiction."

"You and your mysterious obsession."

"Watch it…"

She giggled. "Have a fair evening. Don't let the boogie man get you."

"Don't wander in the middle of the night." He said as both parted their separate ways.

He got glimpse of the night through the window and saw dark clouds coming in. "A storm?" He whispered as he looked on the ground to see Luffy sitting by the tree. 'Hope it doesn't last 'till morning.' He thought as he continued to walk around the school.

###

_Chapter VIII_

"Zoro! Zoro! Wake up!"

He groaned as he was shaken ruthlessly by Sanji. "What is it?'

"A female student has gone missing."

He was wide awake. "What?! When?"

"One of her sisters just woke up and found her gone."

"That can't be right…" He said. "This place is old enough that I can even her mice go across the floor. There's no way I would've not seen or heard her."

"What ever happened, those girls are going to blame your ass."

=*---*=

He got up to find the two sisters.

"You!" Said one with the blond hair. "You were on night guard duty! Where is she!?"

"I don't know. Were the doors locked like it should be and were they still locked when you woke up?"

"Y-Yes and yes…"

"Are you sure?"

She nodded.

There was silence for a moment before the second sister said. "So it is true… about students disappearing here. But why Boa? Why our beautiful sister?"

He sighed. "Was she having abnormal dreams, feeling sick and tired most of the time?" He asked.

"No… never those."

"That's not true!" Said one of the young girls. "She became more of a bitch the last few days!"

"Take that back!"

"Hold it!" Crocodile said as he appeared and looked at Zoro. "Do you have a theory about this? Since you have been the one to suggest ways to prevent this from happening."

Zoro knew what the man was trying to do, but he held strong. "This is just a thought, but it's possible that she did have nightmares, but didn't want to say anything due to scaring you two or doesn't like to have any light to be on during her sleep."

The sisters were silent as they listened to him.

"These nightmares are not your normal bad dreams. Most of you are new here so you didn't have to worry about the dark truth about this, but now that one is missing after eight years, the warning will be described again. These can take you during the night whether you had them for awhile or even on the first night. As stupid as it sounds, those candles in your rooms are your only defense against this. I don't know how or why this happens, but if you don't do this you'll end up just like what the rumors you've been hearing."

"B-But Boa…"

He sighed. "We'll find her in the forest. But I won't lie to you that there's no guarantee that she will be alive if we do find her."

The sisters started bawling.

"Back to your rooms!" Crocodile shouted. "Classes will be canceled for today. Zoro, assemble a search party."

"Hai…" He said as both shared a glare before going their separate ways. "Sanji, get Nami, Vivi, Chopper and Usopp. I'll get the teachers."

"Right." He said as he ran down the hall.

He went the other way but caught the window and saw Luffy, still sitting by the tree he saw last night. 'What's wrong?' He thought as he got the teachers.

=*---*=

Once they were outside, they separated to different parts of the forest while Zoro went to where he saw Luffy, only to find him not there.

"Luffy…?" He said as he looked into the forest and saw the faint light going deeper into the forest. "Luffy!" He ran to catch up with the faint teen. "Oi!" He caught up to the other, only for him to disappear and he found himself out in the opening. "Wait…" He looked around to see the trees. "This place…"

"Oi! Marimo! Found something?!" Sanji said as he and some of the others came out of the bushes.

"I thought I did…" He said as he looked at the trees.

"I-Is th-that blood?!" Usopp said as he pointed to the trees.

"No, that's sap." Sanji said.

"Sap?" The teen said.

"It's a rare weeping willow." Robin said. "I do believe it's called Mother's Tears."

"Mother's Tears?" Vivi asked.

"Mother Earth of course." Robin continued as she looked at the trees. "Legends say that these trees 'cry blood' when a soul gets lost in forests like this. And so Mother Nature turns them into trees and make them cry out their human selves so they could be true trees."

"Creepy." Nami said.

Zoro looked at the trees and caught sight of Luffy in the shadows. He saw him move deeper into the forest. 'What's going on?' He thought as he followed. 'He never acted like this before. What's wrong?' He followed the faint light until he came across a pond. "Luffy?" He said as he looked around before walking up to the pond and thought he saw something in the water. "Guys!" He called as he went into the water.

"What?" Sanji called out.

"I think I found her!" He said as he dived in and was shocked to see roots moving around the dead girl's body and dragging her into the muck. He got back up to see the group. "Sanji! Franky! I need help getting her out!"

The men got into the water and dived in and were also taken by surprise by the roots, but they helped tug and pull the roots until it snapped and pulled the corps out of the water.

"Sanji! Franky! Zoro!" The group called as they helped them out.

While the chaos was going on, Zoro looked around to see Luffy, but there wasn't a sign of him. 'Luffy…' He thought as they headed back to the school.

=*---*=

That night the school was eerily quiet as the news of the found dead girl was announced. Zoro was in the galley, staring at the pictures but his mind wandered to the faint teen he had known for eight years. 'We've finally uncovered something that may explain the origins of this curse and a girl is found dead. But why didn't Luffy stop that from happening? Why lead me to the body?' He looked at the school group painting and stared at the unknown, faceless student. 'And who was this person? Could it be the reason this started? For what? And why is it still going on?' He looked at the second painting that showed an elegant gathering of meal time, the faceless person being the onlooker through the shadowed doorway. 'And then Luffy… he's considered disappeared but he's not completely gone like the others. Why is he different?' He looked at these paintings for a good two hours before Usopp came in.

"Hey Zoro." He said quietly.

"Hey…" He responded, eyes not leaving the two paintings, one of the dining and ne with a group of three students with weapons, chasing another into the forest. "There's just that one missing painting…"

"You noticed that too?"

"It's hard to miss. You got a pleasant and sane dinner gathering and then you got three insane students trying to kill another student in the forest. This means there's actually two missing paintings, this one and the last painting." He said as he pointed to the faceless figure. "Whoever that person is, it caused the disappearances."

"How would you know?"

"Whoever painted this must've had nightmares and has a good memory of the events that lead to the start of the curse."

"It's possible that this person may have been controlled by something that has the power, but needs someone or thing to further that." Usopp suggested.

Zoro remembered the black mass with the burning red eyes. "Who knows…"

"Or maybe the missing painting could be the key to lead to the last painting." Usopp said as he sensed the uncomfortable air.

"Two important paintings missing, one dead girl, a hundred or so students missing from this school , and the history is anything but clear."

"Which I've found out a bit more." Robin said as she went into the gallery.

"Wait! They were real?!" Usopp said as Robin set down an ancient looking book.

"The school was once a finishing school for royal heirs to attend only." She started. "Crocodile's great grandfather was the instructor and overseer at the time."

"Looks like a tyrant to me."

"May have been, for I do recall from looking into his family records and saw that his great grandfather caused one of his student's death from a different region and fled here, creating this school."

"Far from any civilization that may pick up on his abuse."

"Yes. A young ex-duchtress that was supposed to be married, but it seemed her fiancé took his own life after refusal to marry a commoner."

"Harsh." Usopp said.

"Shortly after both of the families were overruled by an enemy and lost the title unless she married another of royal blood."

"It got worse after that." Zoro said, knowing how something like this would go down.

"It didn't say, but there's no doubt that she suffered while she was here."

"It must be revenge then…" He said. "She wanted revenge and whoever she made a deal, didn't stop with those people."

"But why continue?" Usopp asked. "She got her revenge, didn't she?"

"I'm guessing it has to be that Crocodile is here." Zoro said. "As long as the offspring from his great grandfather are still around, there's no end to it."

"So we have to kill Crocodile?" Usopp said quietly, not really liking the idea.

"That's only one theory." Robin said. "But that's regarding to the student. But if she did make a deal with a supernatural being, would that thing be satisfied?"

Zoro thought about the being he saw as a child and knew that satisfying it wouldn't stop it.

=*---*=

When it was close to lights out, he made it to his room and saw Sanji, reading a book on mathematics.

"Yo, Marimo."

"Hey." He said as he looked out the window. "Sanji, you should stay with Usopp for the night."

He looked up from his book and at the other. "Why?"

Zoro threw a candle his way. "Have that. I won't use it."

He looked bewildered. "You insane or something?! Did you or did you not see a dead girl today!?"

"I may figure out what's going on if I do this, Sanji."

He shook his head. "This is suicidal!"

"Listen, Dartbrow, I don't like this idea either, but it's the only way for me to understand what's going on."

He shook his head. "No way, Green Bastard. I may not like you, but you're practically the only friend I have, and I care!"

"Same here, that's why I'm telling you to stay with Usopp for tonight. Otherwise I'll force you out."

He glared at the other before getting up and headed towards the door. "You better know what you're doing." He said as he left the room, leaving the other alone.

He sighed as he grabbed his journal and made and entry.

_'Today was a horrible day. I wake up to find out that a student, Boa, is found dead in the forest. But that isn't want troubles me. It's Luffy. While we were looking for Boa in the forest, he kept his distance from me as I followed him. He usually isn't like this, but he showed me where Boa was and we got her corpse out, but he just disappeared without a word. So tonight I was going to do something that I haven't done since I was a child... sleep without the protection of the candle light. Maybe I can find something...'_

Once he closed it, he set it aside and turned off the lights and closed his eyes.

###

_Chapter IX_

_He felt cold air as he opened his eyes to see that he was facing the forest. He felt himself moved towards it and entered the dark forest. He walked around, hands carefully moved the branches as he looked along the ground._

_"Where is it?" He felt his mouth move, but the voice was Luffy's._

_'Am I looking through his eyes?' He thought as he heard something._

_"Who's there?" Luffy called as he stilled his movements before walking again before coming across the opening. "This is the place…" He looked at the trees and went up to one and put his hand on it, which felt warm and sticky._

_'That's defiantly not sap!' Zoro thought, smelling the scent of blood._

_Luffy brought his hand back and stepped away. "Okay! That's creepy!" He said as he continued on until the sound of a branch breaking was heard. "Okay! Seriously! Who's there!? Is that you Bellamy! I will kick your ass again!"_

_Then he saw it, the burning eyes, times five, as it moved towards the opening. He didn't get to see the faces, but he saw the blood covered knives as the moon light hit them, which made the once alive teen run._

_The darkness was a blur before Luffy fell into the pond, where the roots grabbed hold of him and he struggled as he saw the figure appearing among the kicked up muck before blackness was seen._

_"Zoro…" He heard Luffy's voice. "Zoro… Wake up."_

_--!--_

He opened his eyes and saw, not Luffy but his roommate and the rest of the group.

"Damn…" Sanji said with a relieved sigh. "You scared the shit out of us you bastard."

Zoro just stared dumbfounded before getting up.

"Are you okay Zoro?" Vivi asked.

Zoro rubbed his eyes and sighed. "I don't know…"

"You were screaming Luffy-Bro's name." Franky said.

"I did?"

"Yeah. I'm surprised that it didn't wake everyone up." Nami said.

He sighed once more. "I saw what he saw before he disappeared."

"And?" Brook asked.

"He ended up like that girl… only no one was there to pull him out. He was looking for something before he was chased. It was do damn dark he didn't see the pond…" He sighed. "He wasn't called in like the rest… he choose to go there. That's what made him different."

"Different?" Usopp asked. "What on earth are you talking about? Who's Luffy?"

"He was one of the disappeared students." Zoro started to explain. "I've talked to him for eight years and now I know why he's different from the others who've gone missing."

"So… He's alive?" Usopp asked.

"He's not… but he's not dead… Or so he says." He looked up at the group and faced the teachers. "I have to see if he's okay. He wasn't himself yesterday when he showed me where the girl was."

That's when the sound of thunder was heard and he looked to see that it was raining.

"That's going to be difficult unless you want to get sick." Robin said as the other got out of bed, ran to the closet, grabbed his coat, and headed towards the door.

"Oi! Zoro-Bro!" Franky called. "You're not going out are you?"

"Luffy is the only one able to hold them back! I have to make sure he's okay!" he said as he ran out of the room, down the stairs, and out of the doors that lead outside.

=*---*=

He called the teen's name as he looked for any sign of him. He was about to run into the forest only to feel a stabbing cold on his chest. He looked to see Luffy pushing him away from the forest and crashed onto the wet ground.

"Zoro…"

He heard the other whisper within the storm.

"Please stay alive. Now go."

He got up to see the other was gone. "Luffy!" He shouted. "I'm not going to leave! I'll figure this damn thing out once and for all!" He turned around and stomped back to the school, where the group was waiting for him. "We have to find this out and fast. I think he's losing power to hold them back."

"That's not all we have to worry about." Robin said. "A lot of the students are leaving now."

Zoro looked at the group. "And?"

"Some of us think it's a good idea to get away from this place." Nami said. "Go home and find school somewhere else."

Zoro chuckled as he shook his head. "Do you guys know me? This school is home for me as well as a prison. I have nowhere else to go."

"You can say with us." Franky said. "I'm sure we'll be glad to take you in."

He looked at Robin. "You running too?"

She smiled. "And miss out on this?"

He nodded.

"Robin!" The group said.

"You can't be serious!" Sanji said.

"Is it really okay with you?" Franky asked.

"This kind of mystery is like fire in the kitchen." She said calmly. "If one can't handle it, there's no reason for one to be in the kitchen." She walked to the other's side. "This is the most exhilarating thing I've had since coming to this school."

He looked at the others. "Anyone else?"

Franky sighed. "I've known you since you were barely up to my thigh." He said. "I'm practically responsible for you." He went to stand next to him.

"Yohohoho! I've still got a few years on me!" Brook said.

"Someone has to make sure you don't screw up." Sanji said.

"The weather is too scary to go anywhere." Usopp said.

"Y-Yeah…" Chopper agreed.

"I would like to help as well." Vivi said.

"I don't believe this!" Nami said. "Fine! I'll stay! But you so owe me! If anything happens…!"

"Deal." He said as he was glad that he won't be doing something like this alone.

"So…" Sanji said. "What are we going to do?"

"Find the two missing paintings." He said.

"I thought there's only one." Chopper said.

"The catalog had the last one ripped out, but there's another one that could explain why this is happening, and why it's still continuing." Usopp explained.

"What do you guys know?" Franky asked.

"Roronoa has been looking into the case after Luffy had disappeared, but came up with the same dead end as he did until recently." Robin explained. "And because of this new information we have found out that this place started to be cursed sometime in the late 1800s but very close to the early 1900s. And with these paintings, we can figure out just what would make the suspitious faceless student, who we believe is the one who may have started this, curse the school. That's when I found out about Crocodile's family history to his great grandfather, who opened this school for the soon to be heirs, but one of the students has lost the royal title and was considered countryless. Instead of sendthing this student back, we believe that this student must've suffered a great deal of abuse under this man and the other students. But if the paintings were telling a story of some form, then the last painting would explain something we haven't figured out."

"So… We have to find this missing painting in the series to find the last one?" Nami said, making sure she got it.

"That's our theory." Robin said. "But I've checked a lot of the rooms except the hidden office in Crocodile's office."

"We think it might be there." Zoro said.

"There's also a possibility that there's some doors hidden behind the wallpaper." Vivi voiced. "I live in an old house and we found out three extra rooms."

"Good point Vivi." Usopp said. "I bet this place is similar."

"And from what you guys were saying about Crocodile's family history, I bet there's some rooms he doesn't want anyone to know." Nami said.

"That's probably where the last painting is at!" Chopper said.

"No doubt." Robin said. "But we would need the original blue prints if we have to find the hidden rooms."

"And Crocodile has all of that I bet." Sanji said.

"This is getting exciting." Vivi said.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Nami said as she pinched the girl's cheek.

Zoro was glad to hear that everyone was in on this mystery.

=*---*=

As the day wore on, only one-third of the students remained at the school making the place eerily quiet.

"Still got a lot of students here." Vivi said.

"That's because they're from overseas." Nami said. "Imagine the expenses they would have to pay to go home."

"It's still raining…" Chopper said.

"Yeah…" Usopp said. "Hope we don't end up drowning."

"Drown!?"

"We're not going to drown from rain." Sanji said.

"Still…" Nami said. "It looks like it won't let up anytime soon. We may have to see that for the next few days."

"I hope it doesn't short circuit the fuse box." Franky said. "I don't think we have enough candles to light up the school."

"That's not necessary." Zoro said. "We just have to keep them at a certain room and have that place lit."

"Right. This place is big enough to at least section off one or two places." Robin said.

"And if they want to go somewhere?" Sanji asked.

"Travel in twos or threes with candles." He said. "Going off alone is not a great way at this point."

"Right." Usopp and Chopper agreed.

"Okay." Nami said. "I think it's safe to say we got one thing solved."

"For now at least." Robin said as they got up and left the library to head back to their rooms.

=*---*=

"You gonna try that thing you did yesterday?" Sanji asked.

"Yeah." Zoro answered.

"You're pushing your chances here."

He didn't say anything.

"Okay…" He said as he headed to Usopp's room. "See you in the morning."

"See ya…" He said as he entered his room, which looked dark and uninviting, as if he was expected. He turned on his lamp and took out his journal.

_'I had a dream of Luffy in his last moments before he 'disappeared' and I have a better understanding of why he was different, but I'm still bothered by his sudden passive nature. When I tried to talk to him, to understand what was going on, he told me to live and get out of this school. He should know I have no home to go to. When I returned the group were having thoughts of leaving the school, but Robin decided to stay with me, which made everyone stay as well. That's good, I certainly can't do this alone any longer, now that things seem serious. But we still have yet to figure out about the student in the painting and how she is involved with the disappearances of the students and one librarian. Hopefully this dream may answer that.'_

With that done he set it aside and turned off the light.

###

_Chapter X_

_He awoke with a start at the clearing with the bleeding trees. He looked around to see anyone, which he did but not the beings or Luffy. "Boa?"_

_"Hello…" She said as she walked into the moonlight._

_"What are you doing here?"_

_She smiled as if she didn't hear the question. "You wanna hear a story?"_

_"A story?"_

_She nodded. "Yes, it's a romance." She giggled. "Dark, but romantic."_

_He felt uneasy about the young woman he knew is dead, but he figured she was like Luffy in a way. "I'm not much into that, but I'll listen."_

_She smiled as the atmosphere seemed to change._

_"Once upon a time, there was a girl with fortune and a promise of her hand, but as it turns out that the man decided to end it and disappeared from the face of the earth. And after that happened, everything she knew started to disappear and she was left alone in the mercy of a castle of the tyrant and his followers. Day after day she would try to avoid the followers, and day after day she tried not to let her true emotions show so that she wouldn't feed their lust of her suffering. Her only escape was her stroll in the forest, where even the tyrant and the followers wouldn't dare follow her into. _

_She would go deeper and deeper into the forest until she found a small lake and would cry out her hatred of the occupants of the castle. That's when the Shadow King came out of the water and asked her why she was so mad. As she told her story the King smiled and held her hand tenderly and asked, 'Do you want to hurt them and make them disappear?' She took a moment to think before saying that would make her so happy. The King smiled as he helped her to her feet and said. 'I will grant you this, but you must do two things for me. You must agree to marry me and be my queen.' She said she would gladly do so. 'And, in order for you to do your revenge, you must give me your soul.' And she said. 'Take my soul, take my body, take my life, I don't care as long as I make them suffer as I have suffered.' The King was happy to hear such resolved anger and the marriage was made. After her soul was taken, she became a doll for him to control, but her mind was already set on targeting and he let her go with his power. __And once she made it back to the castle in the middle of the night, she crept to the tyrant's room and stole him back to the forest for the King's trees to devour. And she did this every night as she heartlessly enjoyed seeing the fear in the followers' eyes as they decided to beat each other so that the defeated person would be taken to the forest as a sacrifice. _

_Even when the followers were taken in, she sensed that the blood of the tyrant was still in the castle, and in her mind she was angry until the King assured her that if she continued to steal students away in their sleep, soon she will take the life of the last remaining blood of the tyrant. To this day it still goes on."_

_Once she was done she smiled. "Isn't it romantic?"_

_"Yeah…" He said. "Say… where did you hear this story?"_

_She smiled as she pointed. "From the princess herself."_

_He looked behind him and saw the shadowed face of the girl in the painting. "Wake up…" He said as he backed away, only for his foot to be caught by a hand. He looked down to see Boa having a death grip on his foot, screaming bloody murder. He looked to see the other girl, hand reached out towards him. "Wake up damnit!" He shook himself to get the grip on his foot off as he watched the advancing girl get closer to his throat._

_"No!"_

_He heard someone yell before everything went dark._

_"Zoro!"_

_--!--_

He got up with a start, panting hard.

"Zoro-Bro!"

"Zoro-san!"

"Marimo!"

"Zoro!"

Everyone called out as his foggy mind registered that he was okay. "Shit…" He said as he relaxed.

"What the hell happened?" Sanji asked. "You were screaming bloody murder!"

He took a deep breath. "The girl did want revenge on those who've done her wrong, but her price was her should and the demon married her."

"So…" Usopp started, not liking where this was going.

"We have to find a way to destroy this thing…"

"How?"

"I don't know…" He said as he rubbed his eyes. "I saw Boa… and that girl appeared in the paintings."

"Did you see what she looked like?" Robin asked.

"No… It was covered by shadows." He said as he rubbed his throat. "She definitely wanted to kill me."

"Kill you?" Vivi said.

"Anyway. Did you guys find anything?"

"I found at least one room that's covered in wall paper." Franky said.

"Okay. Any luck with Crocodile's office?"

"I was able to get in without problems." Robin said.

"That's good. Find the painting?"

She pointed to the wall and he saw the faceless girl, bound in rope, being shoved into a box of some kind with the students helping, with shameless pleasure painted on their faces.

"The last painting must be in that box." He said as he got up. "Let's get this over with."

"I'll put this in the gallery then." Franky said.

"I'll go with him." Usopp said.

"Me too." Chopper said.

Zoro nodded as he and the rest of the group followed Nami.

=*---*=

"Are we there, Nami?" Zoro asked.

"Just turn this corner and we'll stand just in front of it." She said as they turned the corner and saw a dead end, covered in dust and cobwebs.

"Creepy…" Brook said as Zoro and Sanji walked to the walk and tore the wall paper to see a door before them, but without a knob.

"Ready?" He asked the blond as he rammed at the door while the other kicked, making the door give way. He coughed at the dust that collected in the room, before seeing that it was dark as a void. "Got a candle or a flashlight?"

Robin handed him a flashlight as he turned it on and the beam revealed the box they saw in the painting.

"There it is." Vivi said as Zoro cautiously walked in, followed by the others, as they walked up to the box.

"Doesn't that box look more like a coffin?" Brook said.

"The lock's rusty." Zoro said as he handed the flashlight to Sanji, grabbed the lock and crushed it to pieces. "A lot brittle than I thought." He opened the lid and saw the box was indeed a coffin, but what really shocked him was the painting inside. "Luffy?" He saw a horrified look of the teen before seeing the girl next to him, looking like a crazed mad woman. He picked it up as soon as Usopp, Chopper and Franky came in.

"What's the title?" Usopp asked.

"Title?"

"It should be on the back." He said as Franky turned on his flashlight.

"Here." Sanji said as he handed back the flashlight.

"Thanks." He said as he lifted it up at an angle, but couldn't see it. He then lifted the painting to the others could see and saw the title.

'You're Next'

"_You're Next_? What the hell does that mean?" He said when he heard Vivi gasp. "What's wrong?" He put the painting down to see their faces, which all looked shocked. "What?"

"Look at the painting…" Robin said with the rare display of fear.

He flipped the painting and saw that Luffy's picture was being painted over and saw his own horrified face in the girl's clutches.

"We better get out of this room." Franky said.

"I agree." Robin said as Chopper screamed.

"Zoro! Behind you!"

He couldn't move as ghostly gloved hands were about to go around his throat.

"Marimo! Move!" Sanji said as he grabbed the other and everyone ran out and went to the drawing room.

=*---*=

"Okay! What the hell was that about!?" Nami called out. "First we see a painting being changed out of thin air, and we saw someone trying to choke you! And you didn't move!"

"I couldn't!" He said. "I wanted to, but it felt like I didn't have any power to myself."

"So… What now?" Usopp asked.

"We found the two missing paintings, we know how this nightmare started…" Sanji said as he looked at his roommate.

He sighed as he looked at the painting. "I don't know…"

"Would Luffy-san know?" Brook said quietly.

"He won't let me go near the forest." He said. "And that's my only way to talk to him." Then he remembered something. 'Unless…'

"We're doomed from the start." Robin said.

"Don't say that!" Usopp and Chopper said as Usopp continued. "We made it this far, haven't we? There must be something! Anything!"

Zoro sighed. "But what?" He said as he stared at the painting. "Hold on…"

"Found out something?" Usopp asked hopefully.

"Luffy's picture was on here, but there were only a few others that disappeared after him. Including Boa."

"That's right." Vivi said. "Wouldn't Boa's face be on there instead of that other boy?"

"And that title 'You're Next'. It doesn't make sense." Sanji said.

"Next to disappear is what I think." Usopp said.

"Sounds to general though." Nami said.

"The disappearances have been really random as well." Franky said. "Why be specific now?"

Zoro sighed. "This is starting to be a real crappy day."

=*---*=

Throughout the rest of the day, Zoro was in his room, going over his notes and entries he'd written down over the years, but couldn't find an explanation. He looked at the time and saw that it was nearing lights out and he looked out of the window to see nothing but darkness and rain drops creating rivers on the window pane. "Luffy, I have to talk to you." He said as he got to bed. "Please be there." He reached over and turned the lamp light off.

###

_Chapter XI_

_"Zoro…"_

_He woke up when he felt a gentle shake. "Luffy?" He said as he looked up to see the teen. "You're okay?"_

_He gave him a small smile as he sat up._

_"Luffy, is something wrong that I should know about?"_

_There was a pause in the conversation before he spoke. "That thing plans to move to the school and take everyone."_

_"How?"_

_"It's dark enough for its army to get in."_

_"Army?"_

_"His shadow army that will take form of all the missing students from the past."_

_"Why?"_

_"Something about covering the area with shadows and bring ruin to the human race."_

_"Did it use the girl for that?"_

_"Only the beginning." He said as he rubbed his arms. "Getting really cold."_

_He held the other and felt the cold as well. "You used to be warm, even in cold weather."_

_"Something is happening to me."_

_"I will beat this thing, Luffy."_

_"How?"_

_"I don't know, but I won't go down without a fight."_

_"You better wake up now. They're here."_

_He turned to see the girl as she walked out to the light. "Leave Luffy alone, bitch!" He called out as he held the teen tight._

_"She's not the threat…" He said weakly. "That is."_

_The black mass with burning eyes came out through the trees and stood next to its 'wife'._

_He finally got a good look of what the creature is. It was black from head to toe, but he was sure he saw faces bulging out every which way, as if trying to get out of the body while the eyes were still burning like hell fire's flames._

_"Zoro… Wake up. You have to warn everyone."_

_"What about you?'_

_He smiled. "I'll be okay…" He said as he raised his hand and turned it to a fist. "Now wake up!" He punched the other._

_--!--_

Zoro woke up when he hit the wooden floor of his room.

"Oi!" Sanji called as he went to see the other on the ground. "You still alive?"

He growled. "Son of a bitch!" He shouted as he rubbed the spot where he was punched.

"Oi, oi. I just got here."

"Not you!"

"Oh, okay. So… what do you have to report?" He asked as the other got up.

"There's going to be an army coming our way."

"Wait what? An army now?"

"Yeah, that thing is trying to take over this school, and try to take over the world from there by catching human souls and then making the shadows to look like the missing person from the moment this damn school opened."

"Why?"

"How the hell should I know? Most lunatics want to take over the world for completely stupid or no reason." He said as he marched out of the room with the other following behind.

"So, any ideas to defeat an army?"

"Not one."

"That's comforting to know."

"Then come up with something, Dartbrow."

"Zoro-Bro!" Franky called. "We were just about to check up on you."

"I'm here."

"Anything?"

"The shadow apocalypse is coming upon us as we speak." Sanji said.

"Nice to know." Robin said.

"That's not good at all!" Usopp and Chopper said in unison.

"Any ideas?" Nami asked.

"Don't let them in." Zoro said as he and the rest of the group heard the other students causing a racket. "Already!?" He looked out of the window, where he saw the distinct outlines of the human figures of the missing students that were taken in the night.

"They're just standing there." Vivi said.

"I wonder what they're waiting for?" Brook asked.

"Whatever it is we can't let them take one step in here." He said as he looked at everyone. "Make sure all windows and doors leading outside are-" He was cut off when he saw the lights above them start to flicker before placing them into complete darkness. "-locked…"

"We better get moving!" Sanji said as he grabbed Usopp.

"Wait!"

"No time!"

"Let's go Vivi!" Nami said.

"Right!" She said as they left.

He looked at the remaining four. "You guys cover the rest of the area, I'll try to figure out what to do with them. Be careful."

"You as well." Robin said as she went with Franky and Chopper went with Brook.

He looked out for the window to see if he could find Luffy anywhere, but he couldn't. He ran around in the dark hallways and couldn't find a candle anywhere. 'What the hell?!' He thought as he guided his way with a hand on the wall and his dark adjusted eyes.

=*---*=

He found the stairs as he found a window, looked out and saw the 'army' was gone. He didn't take this as a good sign as he found the place too quiet to his liking. "Oi!" He called out as he made his way down the stairs, calling out the group's names to at least hear a response. "Anyone here!?" He was taking deep breaths to calm himself down, but his heart rate racing when he couldn't find the others anywhere nor did he hear anyone. "Is anybody here!?" He started opening doors and shouting.

"Zoro-san!"

He heard Robin's voice. "Robin?"

"Oi! Marimo! In here!"

He looked to where he heard the voices and banging was heard. He found the source of the sounds and went up to the doors to open it, but it was locked. "What happened!?"

"Some dumbass opened the door and suddenly we're trapped in here!"

"What do you mean 'suddenly'?!" He asked when he heard someone behind him.

"Look it up if you have time!" Sanji shouted sarcastically while the other man looked and saw Luffy, barely glowing and looking tired and worn.

"Luffy…" He said as he embraced the other. "Don't scare me like that."

"You're so warm…"

"What the hell did they do to you?" He asked as he looked at the other's face, who didn't look well but managed to smile.

"The gallery."

"The gallery?"

"I'll keep them safe."

He nodded as he gave the other one more hug before parting to head to the gallery. "Hang in there, okay!" He said as he made his way to the gallery.

=*---*=

Once there he noticed that the doors were closed and opened them to see a dark void like before when he and Robin first looked at the paintings.

"Roronoa Zoro…"

He turned to see Crocodile.

"Haven't seen you around."

"That's my line."

Crocodile chuckled as he shoved the other into the dark void as he entered and closed the doors as well. "You and I need a chat." He said as the doors closed, engulfing them in darkness.

###

_Chapter XII_

Zoro kept his guard and senses up as he heard a strike of a match before seeing a flame and going to a candle, one by one until all five candles were lit on a candle stand.

"So… you already know about this school's history."

He didn't respond.

"I'll take that as a yes." He said as he grabbed the stand and walked to the other end. "But do you also know that there was a legend similar to the unfortunate princess and the nightmare king?"

Zoro kept a wary eye on the man.

"I'll take your lack of response as a no." He said with a chuckle. "You see… about two thousand years ago, there was a similar problem in another land, but that was stopped when two guardians came. The first guardian was responsible for containing the evil presence from entering a fairly large village, while the other guardian would devote time to study this presence and figure a way to destroy it." He brought out a cigar, put it up to one of the flames and placed object in his mouth. "The containing guardian would be the chosen first if he was able to evade the gruesome trials that many have faced, and that guardian would choose the second."

"Your point?" He said as the man chuckled.

"Are you truly this dense?"

He didn't say anything.

"Roronoa… You're the second guardian, ever since you stepped into this school eight years ago." When no response was made he continued. "Do you know why I created this place into a school? Why it was from such a low level to college level?"

He listened.

"Because I knew at least one would be either of the guardians."

"And the missing students?"

"Some sacrifices have to be made."

"Why? Why keep this place up if you knew that would happen?"

"Simple, I wanted to get rid of what my great grandfather help create."

"Why live here then? Why create a school here?"

"Because I want to live here, but I can't unless I have this demon destroyed." He said as he sighed. "After the first ten years of opening this school, my grandfather had the same idea, and my father wanted this house as well, then it was me. This house is a perfect escape from the hustle and bustle of cities."

"And to hide away from a crime." He said as he heard the man chuckle.

"That too… But what my grandfather and father failed to have, I succeed. I gained both guardians!"

"What makes you so sure?"

"Easy… You mentioned Luffy's name a lot as a child. Only the second guardian is able to know the first guardian and be able to communicate with it." He set the candle holder down as he walked by the paintings. "To think the effects of my great grandfather would be captured in such skilled paintings. But the last one was by far the most frightening. Were you startled when you saw your face on there?"

He didn't say anything.

"As the legend goes, the first guardian maybe spared of its cursed duties if the second guardian would save it in time." He chuckled. "But it seems time is about up for Luffy, and you have yet figured a way to destroy this demon. Don't worry, there's another way, but you would have a hard time recovering from his self sacrifice."

"Sacrifice?"

"Yes, if the second guardian fails to defeat the demon, which did happen last time, the first guardian would use all of its energy, place the demon in his frozen coma-state body, and the second guardian would have to find and kill it." He blew some smoke out of his mouth and grinned. "Even as we speak, the 'army' is on their way to claim him and his instinct will tell him to take a suicidal approach and the chase begins."

He didn't know if he should believe the man or not, but he did know that Luffy was getting weaker and the 'army' was wandering about finding victims.

"Are you worried?" He asked. "Should be, after all you did spend eight years looking for answers and solutions."

He grinned. "Yeah… You're right." He said as he thought up a resolve. "I did look up to what Luffy left off, and recently knew more of why it was like this. But to defeat something like this? It seemed impossible. So…" He grabbed the candle holder and set fire on a nearby curtain.

"What are you doing!?"

"Taking down the school's purpose." He said as he lit the rest of the room on fire before running out of the gallery and set the hallways on fire. "That ought to do the job." He looked to see that the man was trying to put the flames out in vain before running down the rest of the hallway to the stairs to find the room where he last saw Luffy, only to almost be trampled by the remaining students.

"Come on!" Sanji said as he grabbed the other's arm as they ran outside, watching the school go up in flames.

=*---*=

"That's the best idea you came up with!?" Nami screamed. "You could've killed us!"

He remained silent as the flames burned the mansion and the rain continued to pour down mercilessly. He could hear the scream of the 'army' as they burned to oblivion. Soon he heard complaints from the students about shelter and food when the sound of helicopters arrived.

"Zoro…" He heard a whisper and turned to see a group of students at his side, but he looked at the trees and saw Luffy, smiling and glowing a bit more. He tried to get to him, but he felt someone grab his arm and ushered him into the helicopter.

=*---*=

Once in he saw that the other was disappearing as he waved happy while he saw the ground and the faint light getting smaller until it was completely gone, and only the flames were seen as they were flying farther away from the once known school within the forest.

###

* * *

Like I said in the beginning, there will be a third and last part with the final chapter in it and I'm sorry if that left on a bad note. Either way, thank you and see you soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Here's the last part and chapter! But first two replies and we'll get the ball rolling. First off is Lazy Rain Dancer, thanks and with the poor girl, yeah, but after seeing all four Fatal frame games it's always a female that gets the worst of it, her spirit gets touched by some kind of evil or anger towards something and end up hurting others the same way she has. It's really sad once you find out her story after all the time running for your life and what not. If you haven't heard about Fatal Frame (or Project Zero), I suggest you look at the walkthroughs, most of them have commentaries, but they're really good overall. Just don't watch it in the dark the first time, trust me. And for Mantineus, really? That's cool! Well that's it, enjoy the final part!

* * *

**Part III: What Matters Now**

###

_Chapter XII_

"So you set the school on fire?" Asked a cop named Smoker.

"Yes sir, I did." He said as he was wearing an orange jumpsuit.

"Any good reason?"

"Well, you know a lot of students and a staff member end up 'missing', right?"

"Correct…"

"Well, the vice principle or Crocodile, had this crazy idea that I'm some godsend warrior to destroy the demon that haunts the forest surrounding the school. He also told me he only wanted the school to live in, but didn't want to end up as the victim. So I figured if he wanted the place so badly that a lot of students get killed for it, I had to remove the place from existence."

"You do realize that the same man was found dead, right?"

"Yes, and I'll take any sentence that the judge sees fit."

Smoker sighed, knowing that the man has been nothing but honest and he could see the man's eyes that he no longer cared what happened to him, and signaled the other two men in the room. "Put him back in the cell, we'll figure out what to do with him later."

Both men were on either side of Zoro as they walked to a solitary cell for him to stay in while it was divided by other cells next to it, and waited.

=*---*=

He had been questioned for a few days after they reached to a safe landing and he openly admitted to starting the fire, but he wasn't going to complain. He didn't have a home to go to nor a family to worry. He would've stayed with one of the group members, but he can handle this and this way he wouldn't burden them as they lived on with their lives. In a way he was living on as well, even though he saw nothing but concrete and bars, he was anywhere but that school.

He often thought about Luffy. If he was still wandering around the forest, or if he was sent to wherever spirits go. He didn't know, and it was the only thing that bothered him after that incident.

He didn't know what day it was, nor did he care, and it was fine with him. He felt as though being in a cell is like being in his room at the school and being in the forest for Luffy. Just staying in one place day in and day out, expecting what's to come in the next five seconds.

=*---*=

"Oi! Roronoa! You're free to go!" Smoker announced as he opened the cell.

He didn't expect that five seconds ago. "Huh?"

"You've been bailed out."

"By who?"

He sighed. "An older brother of a friend of yours."

He was confused, he knew all of the members and he only knew that Franky has an older brother who was clear across the globe. "Which one?"

"Just get out of the damn cell!"

He got up slowly, led to a hand-out office to get his stuff, changed, and walked out of the station.

=*---*=

Once outside, the sunlight blinded him a moment before adjusting to it to see a man about his age, if not a year older, with easy wavy black hair, dark brown eyes and freckles dotted his cheeks.

"Hey there! Roronoa-kun!" He called out.

"Do I know you?"

"This is the first time we've met." He said as he bowed. "I'm Portgus D. Ace."

"Ace?" He said as he remembered something. "You're Luffy's cousin?"

Ace blinked as he started to laugh as he mentioned him into the car. "Get in, I would like to hear everything about what happened."

He went in and saw that there was someone in the driver's seat.

"To home." Ace said as the driver revved the vehicle to life and made their way out to the road. "Okay, spill. I heard you were there when I transferred out."

He sighed. "Where to begin…" He said as he explained everything.

=*---*=

When they reached to a beach house, he was done explaining.

"Damn…"

"Yeah…" He said as he felt a bit lighter after talking for so long.

"So, you truly have no idea where he is now?"

"No idea and it bugs the hell out of me."

Ace patted the other on the back. "It's okay. At least he had you all this time."

He smiled. "He made life in that place easier."

"Yeah… Well! We're here!"

"Where's 'here', exactly?"

"My place. My little brother told me so much about you."

"Do I know him?"

Ace laughed as he wrapped his arm around the other's neck as they headed up towards the front door. When he opened it the lights went on and the rest of the group popped out.

"Surprise!"

He was taken aback but the other continued to drag him to the chaos. "What the hell?"

"This is your welcoming party." Ace said as he looked around. "Where's my brother? I'm sure he would like to talk to our tough guy here!"

"He's out back." Franky said.

"Okay!" Ace said as he led the captured man to the door that led out to the outside patio. "Go get my brother, the feast will begin shortly."

=*---*=

He soon found himself shoved outside and he saw that the patio had a stair case that led down to the beach below as he looked out to the ocean. He went down the stairs and glanced at the small waves and the almost setting sun. He looked at the length of the beach until he saw someone walking towards the stairs but eye focused on the ocean as well. He saw that the person is a lanky teen male, about seventeen, and was wearing a straw hat. 'This must be Ace's brother. What was his name?' He thought as he stepped onto the sand and walked towards the teen, who stopped to admire the ocean a little longer. "Oi! You're brother sent me-" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the teen turn and looked at him. "Luffy?" He whispered in shock as the other seemed excited to see him.

"Zoro!" Luffy called as he ran up and hugged the man, proving that he's real.

He wrapped his arms around the teen as he tried to make heads or tails of this situation. "How?"

He backed up a bit so that he was able to see the other. "When you left, I returned to my body and I had to walk all the way to the nearest town, got a hold of Ace, explained what happened, and he adopted me as his brother. I also told him to go get you as soon as possible."

"Why?"

He placed a hand on the other's face and moved his thumb a little. "Because I can only remain on this earth as long as I have you by my side. Without you I would grow weaker and cease to exist."

"Why?"

He smiled a bit. "I don't know… but I feel that we're bound somehow."

"So… you're really alive and seventeen?"

He smiled. "Yep!"

He didn't really understand what happened or why it happened. All he knew at that point is that his best friend for eight years is right in front of him and just as warm as the first time they met.

"Come on! I think they're eating without us!" He said as he dragged the other up the stairs.

'Screw reasons! He's here, what other proof do I need?' He thought as he and the teen made it to the party just in time.

=*---*=

Once everyone had their fill and crashed all over the place, Zoro started cleaning up the mess and was kind enough to set out bedding arrangements. Once he was done, he sat down on a plush arm chair and was going to get some sleep as well when he saw Luffy got up, looked around, spotted him, went over, and sat on his lap.

"Sorry for disappearing like that." He whispered.

"It did concern me, but I figured you had to have gone somewhere."

He giggled as he placed a chaste kiss on the other's cheek. "I'll make it up to you somehow."

He blinked as he didn't recall the teen ever be that affectionate to him, but he let it go as he brought the other close to him. "Tomorrow, just get some sleep." He said as he felt the other snuggle up to him. He was about to drift off when he felt something soft and warm placed over his lips. He dared a peek and saw the other giving him a kiss.

"I love you."

He heard the other whisper before finally settling to sleep.

He only responded by holding the other tighter, not wanting the teen to disappear from him again.

###

* * *

Now I have to work on typing up a few chapters from another fic I've been writing for awhile. The fic as a whole isn't done like the others, but at least it will be out of the way. See ya!


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